Dinner plates may go empty in Florida--and Thanksgiving turkey prices soar--as federal government shutdown continues

News and views for thoughtful Floridians

Around three million Floridians and tens of millions of Americans may be going hungry by the end of this week as funds run dry for the federal food supplement program known as SNAP.

It’s one of the consequences of the government shutdown, and comes at a time when food prices for everyone are going up.

New reports also show that the bird flu epidemic is spreading, driving up prices for poultry and eggs—yes, including the cost of turkeys for Thanksgiving, which may be 40 percent more expensive than last year.

SNAP is an acronym for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—often called food stamps—which, as it turns out, has a $5 billion contingency fund for emergencies. But the government has said it will not tap into that fund to extend benefits.

The Trump Administration doesn’t think people going hungry is an emergency—certainly nothing as urgent as bulldozing the White House and building a glittery new ballroom.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the SNAP program that feeds 1 in 8 Americans, announced:

“Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 1. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats.”

So, this is about “inflection points” and leveraging politics, not people going hungry. Good to know U.S.D.A.’s priorities.

Federal workers, who are about to go another week without a paycheck, will be among those suffering as the government shutdown continues.

The American people are being used as pawns in this stalemate over federal spending. The battle lines in Congress are well staked out:

Republicans want their Big Bloated Budget Bill to continue unamended—meaning no restoring Affordable Health Care Act supplements that keep the cost of health insurance within reach.

Democrats want health insurance supplemental funding extended. You think things are tight now, wait until your health insurance costs skyrocket, they argue.

So far, neither side is budging.

But it doesn’t have to be. Here’s Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaking on Sunday to CNN:

“The reality is, if they sat down to try to negotiate, we could probably come up with something pretty quickly.“ We could open up the government on Tuesday or Wednesday, and there wouldn’t be any crisis in the food stamp program.”

While this political chess match drags on, dinner plates may soon be empty.

Bon appetite.

What do you think? Share your views by clicking on the COMMENTS link at the end of this newsletter. Thanks!

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Watching the Tropics

Hurricane Melissa may not threaten mainland Florida and the United States, but it is poised to be one of the most catastrophic storms ever to hit the Caribbean. One reason why: The waters it feeds on are exceptionally warm—around 86 degrees and holding that warmth to unusual depths, all of which provides energy for the storm, which is now a Category 5 hurricane. Yes, global warming is real.

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Florida factual

There are also nearly 117,000 civilian federal workers in the state. The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are the largest employers. Unsurprisingly, the number of federal workers in the Department of Homeland Security (specifically ICE agents) is also rapidly growing. ICE agents get paid when other federal workers do not.

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Thought for the day

“When politics is no longer a mission but a profession, politicians become more self-serving than public servants.”

— Emmanuel Macron

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More online

Thank you for reading the Tropic Press newsletter. You also have access to the Tropic Press website for additional and previous posts, copies of the Monthly Memo, an archive of posts from our advice columnist, Miss Mingo, occasional guest commentaries, and information about The Strange Files series of mysterious adventures and other books.

J.C. Bruce, journalist and author, is the founder of Tropic Press. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida. When he’s not blogging, he’s in training for the Florida Man Underwater Ping Pong Championships. Forward this email to your friends. They will love you for it.

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